Western University’s Faculty of Engineering Embraces Holistic Admissions with Acuity Insights’ Casper Assessment

May 14, 2024

The Casper situational judgment test will be used to measure candidates’ professional and human skills when applying to Western’s Undergraduate Program in Engineering.

TORONTO, May 14, 2024 — Acuity Insights, the leading provider of admissions assessment, program management, and analytics solutions for higher education, announces that Western University’s Faculty of Engineering, Undergraduate Program, will introduce the Casper assessment into its admissions criteria starting in the Fall of 2024.

The addition of the Casper situational judgment test will supplement the existing admissions process at Western’s undergraduate engineering program, which receives approximately 7,500 applicants yearly, to support a more holistic evaluation of each applicant. By providing insight into the social intelligence and professional skills of applicants, Casper will enable the school to gather a more robust and well-rounded picture of each candidate and help it identify applicants who have the skills to succeed in their programs and future careers.

Dr. Craig Miller, Assistant Dean, First Year Studies at Western University’s Faculty of Engineering, Undergraduate Program, says: “We are excited to introduce the Casper assessment into Western’s undergraduate engineering admissions process. We made this decision because we’re looking for individuals who have both strong academic and key human skills, such as problem-solving, collaboration, and resilience. We want a deeper understanding of each student’s accomplishments, skills, and lived experiences, and Casper gives us that much-needed insight. By adopting Casper into our admissions process, we are creating opportunities for future engineering leaders who reflect the communities for whom they will build solutions.”

Matt Holland, CEO of Acuity Insights, says, “We are delighted to partner with Western Engineering and support them in their mission to assess applicants holistically and widen pathways into their engineering program. Including Casper in their admissions process will provide opportunities for a broader, more well-rounded range of applicants who might otherwise have been missed if traditional application credentials were the sole consideration for admission to the program. Western Engineering’s commitment to fostering a fair and holistic process for all applicants and their focus on preparing well-rounded future engineers is both commendable and pathbreaking in engineering education.”

About Casper

Casper is an open-response situational judgment test (SJT) that measures social intelligence and professionalism and is backed by 20 years of data. Being socially intelligent and professional, in and out of the workplace, requires a variety of skills and behaviors, which we use every time we find ourselves in a new situation.

Casper presents applicants with scenarios and questions that allow them to demonstrate these skills and the extent to which they can respond to challenging scenarios in a professional and socially intelligent manner, by using their unique life experiences. Its open-response format, with both video and text, ensures it cannot be gamed by humans or AI, unlike most other SJTs, which use a multiple-choice format.

The Casper assessment tool measures skills such as:

• Adaptability
• Communication
• Collaboration
• Empathy
• Professionalism
• Teamwork

The evidence-based assessment is used by over 500 program partners worldwide in various fields, including the following educational programs:

• Medicine
• Health Sciences
• Teaching
• Business
• Engineering

Visit our website to discover how Casper can support your admissions goals.

About Acuity Insights

Acuity Insights is the leading provider of admissions assessment, program management, and analytics solutions for higher education. The company’s solutions help higher education institutions deliver on their mission holistically, considering the whole student, widening pathways into higher education, and ensuring both student and program success. Recognized as one of Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 companies for 2021 and 2022, Acuity’s solutions are used by nearly 600 higher education programs worldwide. Its Casper situational judgment test (SJT), taken by more than 150,000 applicants every year, is the most widely used open-response SJT in higher education and is backed by almost 20 years of efficacy research. For more information, visit acuityinsights.com.

Media contact:
Brianna Bell, Content & Communications Manager
bbell@acuityinsights.com